


Laugh, Laugh, I Thought I'd Die

by ACatWhoWrites



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-19
Updated: 2014-10-19
Packaged: 2018-03-01 12:16:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,085
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2772671
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ACatWhoWrites/pseuds/ACatWhoWrites
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Chanyeol knows he's awesome, but it's nice to be appreciated.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Laugh, Laugh, I Thought I'd Die

No one was surprised, anymore, when Chanyeol puppy-dogged after Jongin, cooing remarks and praise and hovering just behind his shoulder like some shadowy cloud of confidence. Wherever Jongin went, Chanyeol liked to follow, if he could, or he'd sigh to the others about how diligent and vibrant a person Jongin was.

When Jongin danced, Chanyeol sat with stars in his eyes, completely breathless in his awe until the final notes played and Jongin stood still, eyes flickering from fierce focus to giddy laughs of triumph with a single blink, then Chanyeol would hoot and holler and gush “He's so talented! It looks so effortless; he's a true dancer! I could never move like that!”

Jongin and SHINee's Taemin collaborated for Taemin's solo debut. Chanyeol sneaked around, overhearing talk over the progress and watching the duo practice choreography. He just about fainted when Jongin shyly asked to go over his parts with Chanyeol.

To Chanyeol, the sun shone out of Jongin's butt, and the moon was pulled by his gravity. Everything about Jongin was flawless with just the right artistic flair and raw energy to captivate the entire audience, but Chanyeol never noticed anyone but the spirited dancer.

Sometimes, his spirit ran out, and he'd sleep any chance he got, whether he was standing in an airport, sitting in the makeup chair, or on the phone with his mom. Chanyeol would be right there to lend a shoulder to lean on or an arm to help guide him through the crowd or to his bed.

It was well-known that Chanyeol was a Kai stan. The band knew it, the fans knew it, the company knew it—and the company supported it; if it made the fans happy, happy fans spent more money. Win win. Was everyone comfortable with it? Maybe; maybe not. Jokes sometimes took a step too close to that line of seriousness, but it was hard to hold a grudge against Chanyeol for long.

Some thought Jongin was too lenient, but if he was cool with it, the others went along. No harm, no foul.

He repaid the favor and compliments, after all. Not that anyone else but Chanyeol knew.

 

After a couple days of nearly non-stop promoting and appearances, EXO finally got a break. The group proposed to watch a movie and veg out, ordering enough pizza to feed a small army and whining a lot when Joonmyun wouldn't allow soda or alcohol, because, “Dealing with you lot without the added sugar or lack of inhibition is chore enough.”

Baekhyun dropped onto the sofa, wedging himself between Jongdae and Zitao. He looked back at Chanyeol with a bright smile. “You gonna watch with us?”

Chanyeol spared a glance at Jongin, eyes mostly shut with exhaustion from two days of appearances, and shook his head. “Nah. He's probably gonna crash— _Not_ into the wall, Jongin. Door. To your left … Your other left.—I'm going to work on my songs a bit.”

“Okay. We'll try to be quiet.” It was a good-intended comment with little truth in it. Kyungsoo was at Baekhyun's and Jongdae's feet, leaning against the sofa with a plate of pizza and not quite so lost in focus that he couldn't catch Zitao by the wrist when he tried to sneak a slice. He let Zitao struggle and whine in his grip until Joonmyun told him to let go, after which the rapper slunk to Joonmyun's side and sulked.

Jongdae and Baekhyun laughed. Joonmyun pet Zitao's hair. Kyungsoo continued to watch the TV with rapt attention. Sehun was draped across the third sofa, propped up against Lu Han with his legs over Yixing's lap, feet hanging over the arm rest.

It was a comfy, familiar scene, but Chanyeol wasn't feeling particularly interested in the movie, which he'd already seen, and the greasy pizzas set his stomach roiling in protest.

Alone time, a precious, rare thing, sounded good.

Alone time with Jongin sounded better—he never liked to be alone-alone. His mind went places he wished it didn't, and it always left him a bit subdued.

Jongin had made it to their room and started to kick off his pants, only getting them as far as his calves before pitching forward and snuggling into the first bed he hit. It happened to be Chanyeol's, who squawked a little and yanked his precious Rilakkuma plush dolls from being crushed beneath the dancer and setting them lovingly against the wall. He sat back and eyed Jongin's partly-dressed state.

“You gonna sleep like that?”

Jongin kicked his legs a little, but the pants remained denim shackles, and he sighed, “Mm-hm.”

“Do you mind if I play a little?” Chanyeol leaned over the foot of the bed and took his guitar from its stand. He wasn't going to entirely give up his bed just because Jongin was lazy. Besides, he liked watching Jongin sleep. In the least creepy way; Jongin was just really cute, and after sharing with Baekhyun—who whimpered and whined like a puppy before finally settling down—Chanyeol appreciated silent sleepers.

The dancer tucked his knees up and rolled onto his back. “Pull,” he said, extending his legs.

Chanyeol obediently held onto the waistband of the jeans, and Jongin pulled his legs out as much as he could until his feet got caught, so Chanyeol tugged them off the rest of the way and tossed them onto Jongin's own bed.

“Can I play, now?”

“As long as I can watch.” Jongin stretched his legs out to nudge Chanyeol's knee with a bare foot, and Chanyeol tried to ignore him to tune his guitar, but the foot started tapping beneath his elbow and jostling his guitar. He held it down by the ankle, laughing, “Do you _mind_?”

“Not at all.” Jongin's smile made Chanyeol's heart stutter a bit—the dancer really had no idea just how attractive he was—but his own smile had Jongin throwing his head back to observe the bunk above him, finding it more interesting than the rapper's too-toothy grin. He pushed Chanyeol with his free foot. “So you gonna play, or what?”

“Are you going to behave and stop messing me up?”

“Never.” Jongin curled onto his side as Chanyeol pretended to attack him with his guitar, only stopping when the dancer scrambled to sit up and hold his hands up in surrender. “Okay! Okay. Play. I'll be quiet.”

Chanyeol settled the guitar on his lap again, shooting Jongin a mock-venomous glare in silent _I'm watching you!_ and quickly tuned the instrument. It was almost always in tune, but he hadn't been able to play, lately, and it was always good practice, especially since he wanted it to always sound perfect.

His focus was single-minded, giving his audience ample opportunity to watch. Chanyeol made faces while listening to the pitch and tone of the strings.

Tuning it suitably, he positioned it on his thigh and stared at the blanket a moment before looking through Jongin, wondering what to play. He had so many songs in progress. Something easy just to warm him up would be good.

Jongin tilted his head like a curious puppy, waiting for Chanyeol to play. The longer he stared, the more uncomfortable he became, blush creeping up his neck to bloom across his cheeks. He clapped his hands over his face and kicked out at Chanyeol. “Don't stare at me!” He peeked through his fingers. “You see me all day; haven't you had enough?”

Chanyeol blinked and straightened with a grin. “Nope!”

“Because you're my fan?”

“Your biggest fan.”

“So play something for me!”

“I don't know why I like you so much; you're awfully pushy,” Chanyeol grumbled. The flicked a finger down the strings to show his discontent, but a smile kept pushing the corners of his lips up and distracting Jongin from his teasing.

The dancer stood on his knees and shuffled beside Chanyeol, flopping down to sit with enough force to bounce them both. He leaned against Chanyeol's side with his head on Chanyeol's shoulder. “Just play something for me.”

“Like what?”

Jongin's shrug jostled Chanyeol a bit; he didn't mind. “I dunno. Anything. You play really well, so it doesn't matter.”

“You think so?” If he had a tail, it'd be wagging.

“Mm-hm. You have long fingers; that's good for guitar. You may be a klutzy dancer, but it's like your hands dance on the strings.”

“You sound delirious. Maybe we should just go to sleep.”

Jongin smiled and hooked his chin over Chanyeol's shoulder and shook his head.

“Moving over,” Chanyeol warned before leaning to grab his pencil and notebook that held his songs. Jongin moved with him, having to be pushed off when he wouldn't let Chanyeol back up.

“Seriously, though, Chanyeol.” He counted off on his fingers. “You play guitar, bass, drums, jee-mee or whatever, beatbox, and rap—which you probably do well because you talk so much—and you were an ulzzang. Nice to see your good looks haven't gone away with age.”

Chanyeol blew his bangs from his face. “Go ahead, tell me how you really feel.” He looked at Jongin out of the corner of his eye, playing simple chords.

Where to begin? Sure, he could be overbearing at times, but so could everyone else. Since meeting him, Jongin was drawn to Chanyeol. Everyone was. He's like a brilliant, positive energy, a force to be reckoned with his beaming smile and booming voice. Towering over the crowds they pushed through, Chanyeol never lost his smile or sense of wonder at the sheer number of fans who showed up at the airport, show recordings, concerts, and even his dad's cafe, just to express their love and support for him and EXO. He never lost his smile, always kept his sense of humor, his temper was easily soothed, and he was a grown-ass man with a Rilakkuma collection.

He was plain adorable.

Not that Jongin would ever say that. Not directly.

He sat up, leaning against Chanyeol's back this time, and listened to him play.

Chanyeol broke the silence after a few minutes of playing nonsense notes, experimenting with the sounds. “Is that all you have to say about me?”

“No, but you didn't sound like you believed me.”

“Well, keep going. I'll stop you if I hear something I like.”

Jongin laughed, head tossed back and knocking against Chanyeol's with an audible thump. Still laughing, the dancer got up on his knees and grabbed his friend's head, as if trying to hold it together to keep brains from leaking out. It didn't hurt, but it was unexpected enough to draw out Chanyeol's laughter, and the two combined bounced the mattress a little.

“I didn't do that on purpose!”

“I'll take it as a compliment to my humor.”

“It's your greatest sense.” Jongin sat back down, letting his arms hang over Chanyeol's shoulders. “Not that your music sense is all that bad. Or fashion sense. You dress well. You're long-limbed but don't look like a spider.”

“Oh, thanks. I appreciate that.”

“It's a serious compliment! You look very good.”

“What else?”

“You rap well.”

“And?”

“You're handsome.”

Chanyeol nodded, agreeing. “Continue.”

“ _Chanyeol_!” Jongin shook him, making Chanyeol's fingers tangle in the strings, and hid his face in Chanyeol's neck.

“You're my fan, right?” Chanyeol commented. “What do you like about me?”

Jongin's reply was muffled by Chanyeol's nape. “It'd be easier to say what I don't like.”

“Okay, so what don't you like?”

“Nothing. Oppa is perfect.” The silence made Jongin nervous. He peeked around his arm and noticed the heat. “Are you _blushing_?”

“Who's blushing?” Baekhyun pushed the door open with a bang. “We were trying to be nice and quiet, and here you two are giggling like you're watching naughty videos. Don't leave me out, guys.” He finally noticed Jongin behind a blushing Chanyeol with a guitar over his crotch. “On second thought,” he amended, “I'll be in the front room with the volume turned up.”

When the door closed softly, Chanyeol pitched forward, taking Jongin with him, giggling.

Jongin pushed off his back, watching the door with worried eyes. “What was that?”

Chanyeol kept laughing.

“Chanyeol, seriously. What?”

He just couldn't stop laughing. Jongin shoved him over, so he laid on his side, clutching his guitar and laughing, but his laughter was infectious. His favourite thing about Chanyeol, aside from his high-beam smile, was his great laughter that chased away all emotional exhaustion and soothed any bad feelings. It was childish and just too cute.


End file.
